Hopper.



H. T. GRONK.

HOPPER.

APPLIGATION FILED NOV. as, 1913.

7 91 II I INVE/V TOR ATTORNEYS THE NORRIS PETERS (20.. PHOTO-LITHO.. wn nuvuwn. D. C.

Patented Feb.23, 1915.

HARRISON TAYLOR G'RQNK, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

HOPPER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented net. as, 1915.

Application filed November 26, 1913. Serial No. 803,085.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, IIAnaisoN TAYLOR CRONK, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Hoppers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to water closet hoppers of general application, but particularly adapted for use in peripatetic water closets where there is but a limitedsupply of water or other flushing fluid. In closet hoppers there is usually but little difficulty in flushing the solid heavy matter therefrom but heretofore a large mass of flushingfluid has been necessary to efiectually wash out all the light matter such as paper, match stems, and the like. In places such as railroad cars, where there is a limited amount of flushing fluid available resource is sometimes had to the train pressure to assist in the flushing but this is noisy, places a se- Vere strain on the pipe connections and is very apt to cause splashing.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a hopper so constructed that all refuse matter deposited therein can be swept therefrom with a minimum amount of flushing fluid under normal flushing pressure and a further object is to provide a hopper having such an arrangement of flushing fluid directed thereto that the light floating refuse matter is dampened and the whole mass of refuse and water quietly whirled from the hopper without any splashing. I attain these objects broadly by constructing a hopper the interior of which is formed with rounded flowing lines in which the bottom is arranged to receive the refuse matter in a well of fluid as usual, and the front flush water receiving portion of which has that conic section which will give to water its greatest velocity, and has a slight raise from the center of defilement to a rear outlet. This hopper also has side walls converging rearwardly from a rounded front wall and leading directly to said rear outlet. Further I feed practically all of the flush water down the long sweeping curved bottom from the front of the hopper in a direct line to the rear outlet and feed a relatively thin film of water down the forward rounded portion of the reentrant curved side walls adjacent the center of defilement of the refuse matter to dampen the light refuse matter but I do not feed any water down the converging rear funnel forming side walls.

The various other objects of the invention will be more fully set forth in the following description of one form of mechanism embodying the invention which consists in the new and novel features of construction and combination of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

Referring to the accompanying draw ings:Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view taken through a preferred embodiment of my invention; Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1 looking down; and Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 1.

In the drawing is shown a hopper 1 of greater length from front to rear than the conventional hoppers, having a top ledge forming a seat 2, and having inwardly projecting side ribs 3 slightly below the seat. The hopper has a bottom 4: which, considered longitudinally from front to rear, is in the form of a compound curve, the front part of which has a radius of small diameter and the rear part of which has a radius of large diameter, the two parts forming a long sweeping curve of that form which will give the greatest velocity to the water fed down the front part. A vertically inclined outlet 5 of relatively large crosssectional area is positioned at the rear end of the bottom 4 with its bottom edge positioned slightly above the lowest point of the bottom thereby to form a shallow well 6 of flushing fluid in line with the center of defilement to the hopper, which is indicated approximately by the dot and dash line in Fig. 1. A continuous wall 7 has a front portion 8 which bellies outward and rounds with a continuous curve into the bottom and, has converging substantially straight rear side portions which lead directly to the outlet 5 to form in efiect a straight sided funnel in rear of the refuse receiving front portion. A flush fluid conduit leads to the inlet 9 at the upper part of the curved front portion of the bottom and practically all of the flushing fluid is fed therefrom down the raised front of the bottom. A few fluid outlets 10 are positioned on each side of the main inlet.9 and on each side of the center of defilement to form a thin film of fluid down the curved side walls to meet the edges of the main stream but there is no fluid fed to the funnel part of the hopper as this would be a waste having no useful result besides any such side feed would interfere with the whirling mass as it passes through the funnel.

In operation the refuse matter is received in the well 6 which is so arranged that the center of defilement is well in advance of the funnel formed by the converging portions of the wall and in line with the rush of fluid down the front wall. The films of fluid flow quietly down the side wall and have the effect of dampening and" sinking the paper and other light refuse which otherwise would float on top of the main flushing stream. The side edges of the main stream as it approaches the constricted passage formed by the funnel slightly rise and fold over inwardly toward the center of the stream, thus eliminating any tendency to splash and forcing all refuse matter both light and heavy toward the core of the main flushing stream.

The area of the outlet is proportioned so that it is greater than the maximum crosssection of the column of refuse fed through the same so as to eliminate any obstacle and to reduce friction to the final sweep of the whirling mass of refuse and flushing fluid from the hopper. By means of a structure of thischaract'er it has been possible to thoroughly flush the hopper with three quarts of water under approximately 20 pounds pressure. When a hopper of this character is mounted on a rocking platform as on a vehicle the side ribs below the seat prevent any side splash which otherwise might come through the seat opening due to the swaying of the platform. These ribs coacting with the inwardly curved top portion of the side walls assist in turning the edges of the main stream inward which action imprisons masses of air within the main stream enlarging thestream from its normal size.

The outlet 5 maybe made L-shaped in horizontal section one leg of which is formed of the smaller end of the funnel and the other leg of which forms a depending conduit 11. A relatively small stream of flushing fluid may be fed through the fluid outlet 12 to strike on top of the light refuse material as it is about to sweep down the conduit 11. This auxiliary stream-has the effect of dampening the paper and other material floating on themain stream and facilitates a quick passage for the same through the outlet.

Although I have shown only one form of mechanism embodying my invention, it is obvious that various changes within the skill of'tlie meehanicmay be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention, provided the means set forth in the following claims are employed.

Having thus described my claim 1. A closet hopper having a relatively long sweeping curved bottom extending from front to rear leading to a rear outlet having its lowest edge placed slightly above the lowest point of said bottom, whereby a shallow pool mav be formed on said bottom, said hopper having a continuous curved wall with a portion overhanging the bottom and rounding sharply into said bottom and including substantially straight side portions converging toward said rear outlet to form a. funnel, and a rounded front portion uniting said side portions, said hopper having a seat with a center of defilement positioned within said rounded front portion and in advance of said converging side walls and means for supplying a main body of flushing fluid to the upper front part of said curved bottom and above the pool and for confining relatively thin films of fluid to the wall of said hopper on opposite sides of said center of defilcment and in advance of said converging walls.

2. A closet hopper having a substantially flat bottom providing a channel for a main flow of flushing fluid, a funnel shaped member forming a continuation of said bottom invention, I

and leading to a rear outlet, outwardly bellied side walls having a portion overhanging said bottom and then rounding into the same and leading rearwardly to the sides of said member and means for feeding a film of fluid down said side walls to meet the edge of the main stream before it is directed into the funnel shaped member.

3. A closet hopper having a substantially flat bottom providing a shallow channel for a main flow of flushing fluid, said bottom being wider than the depth of the interior of the bowl, a funnel leading from the refuse receiving portion of said bottom to an outlet. said hopper having side walls leading to said funnel, the upper portion of said side walls being sharply curved inwardly to fold the sides of the'flow inwardly as it rises on said sides, thereby to dampen any floating refuse andto imprison air within the flow.

4. A closet hopper particularly adapted for installation on a rocking platform and having a relativelv broad substantially flat bottom, downwardly diverging side walls having their lower portions rounding into said bottom at a sharp angle thereto. a seat positioned directly on top of said sides and relatively close to said bottom, and means carried by the seat for feeding flushing fluid down said side walls, said side walls preventing splashing of said flushing fluid upon the seat during the swaying of the platform upon which the hopper is mounted.

5. A closet hopper having a refuse receiving portion and a horizontally disposed funnel portion leading rearwardly therefrom, means in advance of said funnel for causing the fiush water to pass in a single stream through said funnel portion with a vertical whirl, a rim providing a seat for said hopper over the receiving portion thereof, said rim providing a conduit for flush water and having outlets disposed in the front of the receiving portion, in advance of the funnel portion.

6. A closet bowl having a refuse receiving portion and a horizontally disposed funnel portion leading rearwardly therefrom, the

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each,

refuse receiving portion having horizontally disposed side portions overhanging the bottom thereof, and means for feeding a flushing stream along said bottom into said funnel, the overhanging side portions adapted to act on said stream to inturn the edges thereof whereby said stream is caused to assume a substantially vertical whirl as it passes into the funnel. I

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of two witnesses.

HARRISON TAYLOR CRONK. Witnesses:

Rosin IsAAos, CARRIE IsAAos.

by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). G. 

